Between bike rides along the seawall and eating burgers on a sunny patio, on Saturday I managed to head over to the treasure trove of Granville Island to pick up some dinner fixins’ at the market. So I offer you this short post now as a token of appreciation for all of you who keep on reading this lil’ space of mine.

This lamb marinade works wonders on lamb chops but I decided to mix things up a little bit and create some lamb tacos. The smokey cumin flavour mixed with the cardamom was incredible and these tacos were pretty much gobbled up instantly.

lamb tacos
1/2 lb leg of lamb, cut into small bite-sized pieces
4 cloves of garlic, minced
juice of half a lime
2 T cumin
1/2 t ground cardamom
1 T olive oil

1 tomato, diced
1/2 small red onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 t cumin
1/2 t cayenne pepper
juice of half a lime

corn tortillas

1. Toss the first 6 ingredients into a ziplock bag, making sure all the spices and flavours blend. Marinate for 1 hour.

2. Prepare salsa in a small bowl by mixing the next 6 ingredients together.

3. In a very hot cast iron skillet or grill pan, add the contents of the ziplock bag. The lamb should brown very quickly. About 1 minute should do it.

4. Heat the corn tortillas over a gas flame to soften and slightly char.

5. To each tortilla, add some lamb and top with the salsa. Eat and watch everyone fall in love with you.

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Earlier this week, I decided to make some Pate Chinois, but instead of using ground beef like my mom always used, I made it with ground lamb. Either works wonderfully for this very down home stick-to-your-ribs meal.

pate chinois
1 T vegetable oil
1 large onion, diced
1 large carrot, diced
2 stalks celery, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
salt & pepper
1 lb ground lamb or beef
2 T flour
1 beef bullion cube
1 c boiling water
1 T worchestershire sauce
1 can of creamed corn
4 potatoes, cubed
milk & butter
paprika
1/4 c grated cheddar cheese

1. In a large pot, boil water and add potatoes. When ready, mash with milk and butter and season with salt & pepper. Set aside. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2. In a large oven proof casserole pot, turn heat on to medium-hot and heat oil. Add in onions, garlic, celery and carrots and stir about until onions are translucent. Add meat and brown until no longer pink and season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle flour over meat mixture and stir about well to cook flour. Add in worcherstershire and crumble in a bullion cube and add in 1 cup of boiling water. Stir until a thick gravy forms. Turn off stove.

3. Pour can of corn over meat mixture. Do not mix in as we’re going to create layers. Now carefully drop spoonfulls of mashed potato over the corn layer and gently spread about. With a fork, run the tines over the potato to create little rivets which will help to brown the top layer. Sprinkle with paprika and a little grated cheese. Put into a hot oven and bake for 30 minutes or until the cheese melts and gets bubbly and the tops of the potato browns slightly.

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